What is China's 'new era'? [Part 1]

For historians who study specific periods, each era is special in its distinctive markers of the forces of productivity, unique economic, social and political constructs, as well as historical events, personalities and processes that influence posterity. These constitute the characteristic essence of historical developments.

Unlike historians who review the past, politicians always look towards the future and seek to demonstrate their eras' importance and pivotal significance to the prospects for their countries, the people and the world.

However, the phrase "new era" used by politicians is somewhat precarious as the future is unpredictable. How does the Communist Party of China (CPC) define "socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era" that has been unceasingly advocated since the 19th National Congress of the CPC?

The "new era" is defined in a multi-faceted manner.

First, it can be defined in terms of the achievements or what has been done, as we are now a decade into this new era. According to the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC: "The past decade marked three major events of great immediate importance and profound historical significance for the cause of the Party and the people: We embraced the centenary of the Communist Party of China; we ushered in a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics; and we eradicated absolute poverty and finished building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, thus completing the First Centenary Goal".

The 20th Party Congress thus described the decade: "The great transformation over the past 10 years of the new era marks a milestone in the history of the Party, of the People's Republic of China, of reform and opening up, of the development of socialism, and of the development of the Chinese nation."

Second, since the new era will last until at least the middle of this century, it can also be defined in terms of what will be done. The report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC reads: "From this day forward, the central task of the Communist Party of China will be to lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in a concerted effort to realize the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization."

Third, the CPC defines the new era in terms of history. The report to the 19th National Congress of the CPC, which officially launched the "Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" (新时代中国特色社会主义思想), states: "This new era will be an era of building on past successes to further advance our cause, and of continuing in a new historical context to strive for the success of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It will be an era of securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and of moving on to all-out efforts to build a great modern socialist country.

"It will be an era for the Chinese people of all ethnic groups to work together and work hard to create a better life for themselves and ultimately achieve common prosperity for everyone. It will be an era for all of us, the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation, to strive with one heart to realize the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. It will be an era that sees China moving closer to center stage and making greater contributions to mankind."

In this new era, the main contradiction in society is "the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life".

Finally, the CPC has even defined the "new era" in terms of its worldview and methodology. It says in the 20th National Congress of the CPC: "We must put the people first, maintain self-confidence and stand on our own feet, uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, adopt a problem-oriented approach, apply systems thinking, and maintain a global vision."

Once the idea of this new era was announced, the entire country was jubilant, with the people singing praises of "the 21st Century Marxism" and calling it "enlightening", "rousing" and "inspiring".

The sociology of knowledge tells us that this is to be expected, since there are 100 million party members and cadres, millions of cadres involved in propaganda, thousands of party schools, schools of Marxism studies and Marxist-Leninist academies of social sciences, as well as hundreds of "new thought" research centres.

As the party cadres are deeply immersed in the incessant reminders and demand of "Four Consciousness" (四个意识), "Two Upholds" (两个维护) and "Two Establishes" (两个确立), their utterance in unison means little. The question that needs earnest discussion is whether the above definitions are sufficient to validate this new era?

Regrettably, despite being multifaceted in a number of perspectives, these definitions are muddled and floundering in excessive rhetoric that have failed to convincingly articulate its essence.

Let us briefly examine the "three major events" in the past decade. The CPC's centenary is a matter of course. "Enter a new era" is a tautological phrase, while eradicating absolute poverty and building a moderately prosperous society are long-term endeavours that are not unique to the new era.

In the CPC's mission ahead, "building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects" and accomplishing "the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts" can be traced back to the Six Gentlemen of the Hundred Days' Reform (戊戌六君子) and Sun Yat-sen. The second centenary goal is merely a repackaging of the same objectives, and "common prosperity", "China moving closer to center stage" and "making greater contributions to mankind" were ambitions declared a long long time ago.

Further, "the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life" is only a variant of "the contradiction in Chinese society ... between the ever-growing material and cultural needs of the people and the low level of production" in Deng Xiaoping's era, with no material difference.

The narrative based on methodology is also similar to what Mao Zedong had long advocated. In addition, "building on past successes to further advance our cause" and the new era as "a milestone in history" are not only empty words but also trite.

The phrase "a Chinese path to modernisation" appears to be new. Its essence, "the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development", is familiar to all.

None of these is wrong, but do they articulate the essence of a new age? Perhaps, this era is not so new?

It may well be due to this elusive and expansive definition that makes clearly defining the "Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" difficult.

Hence, the CPC simply leaves it to the people to read "the 10 affirmations, the 14 commitments, and the 13 areas of achievement" in various documents to figure out for themselves this new thinking in the new era, but stresses that the new thinking focuses on "... solving real problems arising in our reform, opening up, and socialist modernization endeavors in the new era. We must keep responding to the questions posed by China, by the world, by the people, and by the times; in doing so, we should find the right answers suited to the realities of China and the needs of our day, reach conclusions that are compatible with objective laws, and develop new theories that are in step with the times, so as to provide better guidance for China's practice."

Once again, rhetoric trumps substance.

This circular, confused definition appears to suggest a new era tailor-made for an individual, an impulse shared by politicians all over the world who want to go down in history.

This, arguably a harmless "original sin" of a politician, does not invalidate the new era. CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping's assertion of "great changes that have not been seen in a century" accurately sums up the features of this era and has been repeatedly proven by current developments.

Our era is marked by the sudden reversal of globalisation, the constant turbulence due to global developments and the fragmentation of international relations, the crises in democracies and capitalist economies, the shock caused by China's emergence, the series of problems caused by climate change, and the risks and uncertainties in the new technological revolution. These are defining characteristics of a new era.

Failure to appropriately grasp these issues and a poor definition or inadequate understanding of the new era will result in policy-making that lacks direction, inadequate innovation and excessive disruption by conventional thinking. These may lead to the wrong choices and missing out on great historical opportunities.

Specifically for China, the coordinates for the new era can be marked using two axes: socialism and global history, both of which feature universal topics in history.

Socialism has existed for 500 years. While its basic aspirations have remained largely the same, the proposed ways of achieving them are varied. The main objectives along the socialist axis include:

Overcoming cyclical economic crises

Socialism, the ideological opposite of capitalism, has the task of overcoming capitalism's cyclical economic crisis as one of its main missions. This has been accentuated after China adopted a market economy and become integrated with the global capitalist economic system.

China has made notable accomplishments since its opening up and reforms began. Its economic fundamentals have remained stable despite the Asian Financial Crisis (1997), the dot-com bubble crisis (2000s), and the Global Financial Crisis (2008). However, like all capitalist markets, insufficient market demand also plagues China's economy. This is unfinished business for socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Common prosperity

This is an issue for both socialism and all of humanity. The CPC is clearly ahead of its time in ideology because it regards common prosperity as the essence of socialism. However, it continues to struggle with practical measures to achieve common prosperity.

The rich-poor polarisation is a global problem that has directly led to the bankruptcy of neoliberalism and general turmoil in Western countries, but it is a latent advantage for socialism with Chinese characteristics. China has just begun its endeavours in this regard.

Deng believed that even if China did not achieve the high per capita income levels of developed capitalist countries, life would still be good with the socialist system of wealth distribution. The realisation of this ideal needs further exploration but it is certain that persisting with capitalism will never achieve common prosperity.

Relative to the attempt for a rapid transition to collectivisation while China was in deep poverty (穷过渡) in the Mao era, building socialism today has a greater chance of success with a vantage point of considerable material wealth and new approaches.

Reimagining capitalism

History may well prove that money and market exchanges can never be eliminated. Hence, socialism should strive to reimagine capital instead of eliminating it.

This means that socialist China's capital may be different in essence from international capital with different objectives and obligations, and that the entrepreneurs' returns are different from that of the pure capitalists'.

The CPC should reimagine capital so that entrepreneurs become the pillar of strength for socialism. The new concept of social enterprises has emerged from decades of economic development. Social enterprises are created not for profit but to eradicate poverty and transform people's lives, enabling them to embark on self-development and become prosperous.

Many new enterprises and economic activities that focus on social contribution or self-actualisation have emerged at the forefront of economic reforms, such as the DIY culture, maker movement, sharing economy and platform cooperative economy etc. whose main thrust is socialist in nature. Unfortunately, they seem to thrive better in advanced capitalist economies than in socialist China.

The people's well-rounded development

This is a specific goal of the 20th National Congress of the CPC.

The main Marxist criticism of capitalism is that it alienates the people. In today's capitalist world, the people have become slaves to multiple demands, such as their mortgage, children, employers, work, debt, and the five insurances (endowment, medical, unemployment, employment injury and maternity) and housing provident fund (五险一金).

The greater the affluence, the higher the anxieties and pressures of work and life, and the more meaningless and spiritually barren life becomes. Most people are not masters of their own destinies.

The ultimate Marxist ideal is to liberate the people from being an input factor of capitalist production so that they can take charge of their lives and devote energy to creation and scale the zenith of civilisation and spiritualism, instead of spending their lives as the cogs in the capitalist machine.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics owes it to history that it should accomplish something in this respect.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as "何为新时代？（上）".

Related: What is China's 'new era'? [Part 2] | Can the CCP truly serve the people? | [State of our world] China's future in a politicised world | Can capitalists ever feel at ease in socialist China? | Why Xi Jinping's bold experiments with socialism are commendable | China needs to work towards a new socialism